This Week in Weird, July 31

A “righteous” criminal and a near-nude criminal top this week’s edition.

Angel-wielding suspect ‘smites’ pedestrian

PEORIA, Ill. - Maybe the devil made him do it. Someone used a stone angel statue as a weapon while trying to rob a man in South Peoria early Thursday morning, the victim told police.

A Peoria police officer went to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, where a 51-year-old man was being treated for a large laceration on top of his head. The man said he was walking sometime after midnight when a male approached him and asked to borrow some money, according to a police report.

The victim said he didn't have any money, at which time he was struck with the statue. He said he fought off the attacker without losing any money. He declined to tell police the identity of his attacker, saying he planned to talk to him about it himself.

Because the victim was not cooperative, police closed the case, according to a police report. He was treated at and released from St. Francis.

Woman who claimed beggars set fire to her home arrested on arson charge

CANTON, Ohio - A woman who claimed beggars set fire to her house in May, trapping her and her children inside, has been charged with setting the blaze.

Anastasia Gates, 36, was arrested Wednesday on an aggravated arson warrant, court records said. She was booked into the Stark County Jail, held in lieu of $50,000 bond.

Investigators are looking into the possibility Gates was suffering from postpartum depression, Munchausen Syndrome “or a combination of the above,” said Inspector Joseph Carafelli.

People with the disorder “need to be seen as ill or injured, not to achieve a concrete benefit, such as financial gain,” according to my.clevelandclinic.org.

“Obviously we had to go ahead with the charges to make sure these kids don’t ever get hurt,” Carafelli said.

Gates told The Repository the day after the May 18 fire that two burglars had set fire to her home, trapping her and the youngest two of her five children in the basement. She said the men also set fire to her house as her family slept on May 12.

Arson investigators interviewed her again on July 23. “When confronted with the evidence of where and when she purchased the lighter fluid that investigators determined was used to set the house on fire, the rest of her story began to break down,” Carafelli said. “She then admitted there were no beggars that had come into the house.”

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Bartley’s Burger Cottage in Harvard Square has had the "Skip Gates burger" -- a teriyaki burger with a grilled pineapple and side of onion rings -- on the menu for several years, and owner Joe Bartley said Wednesday he's introducing the "Sgt. Crowley burger:" a cheeseburger with grilled onions and gravy french fries.

Gates has been coming to the burger joint for about as long as he has been teaching at Harvard, General Manager Bill Bartley said. He said Gates is a loyal customer and has helped numerous people, including Bartley’s father when he was having back problems.

“I know Skip,” Bartley said. “I know he’s a good guy.”

Bartley said a lot of people asked him what he was going to do with the Gates burger, and whether or not he was going to make any changes.

“A few people said we should take him off, I said we should never take him off,” he said.

The restaurant features burgers and sandwiches named after public figures and Massachusetts locations, including "The Bill Clinton," a barbecue burger with cheddar cheese and french fries; "The Tom Brady," a burger with cheddar, guacamole, lettuce, tomato, red onions and fries; and "The David Letterman," a hot meatloaf sandwich with gravy and mashed potatoes.